


Tiny Steps

by RomeoandAntoinette



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Holidays, Kissing, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pancakes, Post-Canon, References to Canon, Secret Santa Fic, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21876286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomeoandAntoinette/pseuds/RomeoandAntoinette
Summary: Souji and Yosuke spend their first holiday with the newest addition to their family. And their cat too, of course! [Souyo] [For Souyo Secret Santa Exchange 2019].
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60
Collections: Souyo Secret Santa Gift Exchange 2019





	Tiny Steps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InknBones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InknBones/gifts).



> Ho, ho, ho! Hello there, InknBones! Santa Claus had to go to a NORAD meeting about his upcoming delivery route (air traffic is crazy this time of year, am I right?), but before he left, he put out the call for Souyo writers and artists to step in and help each other out this holiday season! 
> 
> We were paired up because of our similar tastes, and boy, it shows! It was so hard to choose one of your amazing prompts. I had way too much fun writing your wonderful ideas, but I ultimately decided on giving Souji and Yosuke a holiday morning of domestic fluff with their son. I sincerely hope this final product is up to snuff.
> 
> I hope you have a wonderful, cheery, and bright holiday season!

Souji awoke to the sound of repeated thumps and knocks coming from the kitchen.

“Mmm…Yosuke?”

The presence of warmth beside him debunked his first theory about the source of the sounds. Yosuke’s heartbeat, as strong as solid as ever, thumped against his ear. As Souji moved his arm, he could feel it lay flush against Yosuke’s midsection, his breathing steady with the calmness of sleep.

So, Yosuke wasn’t the noisy offender.

Slowly, Souji raised his head from its sanctuary against his husband’s back and crooked it over the top of the comforter.

Ever since they’d adopted their child, the couple always left the bedroom door open (save for a couple of romantic instances that were too last minute to call a babysitter in for).

Otherwise, the system worked perfectly for their familial unit. Thanks to the condo’s tiny layout (which was more for necessity than preference in the bustling city) all either of them had to do to see almost the entire expanse of the cozy Tokyo condominium was raise their head and look down the hall. The main connector provided a direct line of sight into the kitchen, with the door to their child’s bedroom falling directly in the middle.

Sure enough, as Souji peeked through the sparsely lit corridor, he could see said bedroom door was ajar.

Struggling to break away from the warmth of his bed immediately, Souji opted instead to roll over to peek at the LED display on their bedside clock. It was barely 6 a.m. It was hardly an unthinkable time to awaken, in his humble opinion as an early riser. This notion was bolstered by the fact that, on any other Wednesday morning, he would have already been up and donned in his suit. After a quick shower and shave, he'd be out the door to catch the train over to the law firm where he worked as an attorney. Yosuke, who worked afternoons and evenings as the director of advertising at Junes’ corporate headquarters, would stay back and make sure their son ate a balanced breakfast before helping him get ready for grade school. Then, depending on an array of factors Souji didn’t understand and didn’t dare ask about (Boilerplates? Cutlines? ROP?) Yosuke sometimes went into the office or worked from his laptop at home.

However, the man knew this Wednesday was an exception for them. Both had taken the day – December 25th – completely off from work to relish some quality time as a family.

Their first holiday as a family, more specifically.

Souji’s meandering train of thought was interrupted by more sounds from the kitchen. This time, it sounded like the clang of a metal bowl followed immediately by a harsh ‘shhhh!’ before a flurry of footsteps took over. Souji didn’t have to strain his ears to discern two sets of footsteps. One set was human, and the other was distinctly feline.

The silver-haired man cracked a secret smile. Slowly, he inched back under the covers as noiselessly as possible as to not alert the stealthy operatives lurking in the kitchen that they’d been spotted. Instead, he decided to lay silently under the pleasant warmth of the covers.

“Mici, stop knocking stuff over!” the boy rasped sternly. “You’ll wake them up!”

Another clang echoed down the hall. This time, it sounded as if a utensil had been knocked from somewhere. The spritely sound elicited another cry of admonishment.

Try as he might, Souji couldn’t listen to the hilarious commentary alone.

“Yosuke,” he whispered as he reached up to give his husband’s shoulder a gentle shake. “Hey, Yosuke. You up?”

A muffled groan greeted his inquiry. Then, Yosuke yawned and flopped onto his back and scrubbed his eyes. “Hm? Souji?”

Souji laughed at the lack of an answer and have another rousing jostle. “Hey, Yosuke. Listen.”

“Huh?” the other man asked, eyes still half-lidded with sleep. His shaggy hair was a nest upon his head, and sometime during the night, the old band T-shirt he’d word to bed had become askew. In Souji’s eyes, he was the picture of attractiveness. “Listen to what?”

As if on cue, another sound came from the kitchen. Unlike last time, this noise sounded like the sudden roar of a television audience clapping in excitement. An announcer’s voice then began to boom something about the next upcoming light show at Tokyo Destinyland. Immediately after the crescendo of noise, the volume plummeted. It sounded like someone had switched on the television or radio. Or, more accurately, they’d attempted to turn something on sneakily and failed after trying to spam the volume buttons.

The brief flash of alarm across Yosuke’s face at the prospect of a potential intruder faded at the sudden sound of a boy’s voice whisper-shouting at a meowing cat as the television volume slowly decreased.

Two amber eyes blinked slowly. Then, they crinkled with sudden delight.

“Wait…don’t tell me,” Yosuke chuckled. He raised a hand to his mouth to muffle a laugh.

“I think Akira is trying to surprise us,” Souji said. Then, he dipped his head so he could whisper even more softly into Yosuke’s ear, “I also think I heard Mici messing around with one of the metal mixing bowls too, so…breakfast could be potentially interesting. Heads up.”

Mici was Souji and Yosuke’s beloved feline companion. The duo had adopted her shortly after they’d finished college and started renting their first official place together. She’d been just a kitten when they’d welcomed her into their life, and as the years passed, she was no longer the most recent addition to their growing family.

Yosuke made a silent squealing noise before pushing his head against Souji’s chest. “Holy crap, that’s so cute.”

“I know,” Souji fawned as he pushed his own face into Yosuke’s shoulder.

“It’s our first time spending the holidays together as a family,” Yosuke realized aloud. Then, his tone suddenly became melancholy as he snaked his arms around Souji’s waist and pulled him close. “Hey. Um, for Akira, this might be his first holiday with a family ever, right?”

That, Souji didn’t know. It was a safe assumption.

“And he still woke up early to try and surprise us?” Yosuke asked rhetorically. From Souji’s perspective, it seemed like he was relaying the information back to himself to overcome the feeling of disbelief. He could relate.

“It would seem so,” Souji admitted softly. A wave of fondness made his voice and eyes watery. He remembered plenty of holidays where he’d spent the winter days alone while his parents were busy overseas or working overnight at their offices. Nonetheless, he’d still had a roof over his head and a place to stay. Even if his family was away, he had the reassurance that they’d eventually return.

The child he’d adopted with Yosuke came from a situation where they’d had no such luxuries.

“Man,” Yosuke sighed. “And here I thought I couldn’t love our kid any more than I did.”

The words hit home. _Our kid._

“I know,” Souji repeated, his voice as tender as his full heart. He tightened his hold on Yosuke’s body ever-so-slightly. “Akira is…really special.”

Yosuke could only nod as he kept his head rested against his partner’s chest. All the while their bodies remained perfectly slotted together and their legs were trapped in a satisfying tangle.

“Souji,” Yosuke muttered against the fabric of his sleep shirt. “I know you already know this, but…we’re going to be the best parents ever, right?”

This caused the other man to laugh. “That’s the same thing you said back when we were finalizing the adoption paperwork.”

Yosuke shifted in his arms so he could inch even closer. “You remember?”

“I could never forget,” he said. “My answer hasn’t changed, Yosuke.”

The other man released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Yeah? Good. Because it’s kind of a done deal, you know?”

Souji dipped his head to place a kiss atop Yosuke’s head. “You couldn’t keep me away.”

The sappy declaration made Yosuke wrinkle his nose. “Ew. You dork.”

“And there’s nothing you can do about that either,” Souji remarked with a catlike grin.

“Well, rats.”

Apparently unsatisfied with the quick peck on his forehead, Yosuke lifted his face and beckoned Souji with a small flick of his chin. After rolling his eyes as one of his partner’s usual dramatic displays, Souji cocked his head and placed a chaste kiss upon Yosuke’s gently parted lips. The warmth lasted only a moment before they parted ways, but it was more than enough to satiate them. The pair continued to hold eye contact while Yosuke reached up and pushed a few flyaway strands from Souji’s bangs up and away from his face. This caused a ticklish shudder that wracked his body like a shiver.

“Sorry,” Yosuke gasped. “Are my hands cold?”

“It’s okay,” Souji sighed. “I still love you anyway.”

“Ugh, stop,” Yosuke groaned through a smile.

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden silence from the kitchen.

“Quick, pretend to be asleep,” Souji whisper-shouted as the sound of tiny steps began padding down the hallway.

As the footballs continued to draw closer, the two slipped free of each other’s embrace to assume more natural sleeping positions. Yosuke even began to comedically snore and Souji had to fight the urge to bring a hand up to his face.

Thankfully, Akira was still enough that he didn’t register his father’s actions as obvious overacting. He waddled to the edge of the bed and hauled himself atop the mattress with a mightly tug on the bedpost. Then, like a diver, he sprang up and plummeted down into the sparse amount of bed space between them.

“Papa, dad!” he said, referring to Souji and Yosuke respectively in a cheery singsong. “Wake up!”

After landing, both Souji and Yosuke rolled over tackled the young boy, entangling him in an embrace and peppering him with good morning kisses.

“Hey, you,” Souji chuckled. “Good morning. You’re up early.”

The boy nodded his whole head in agreement like a fishing lure in the water. "Yep! I woke up even before you guys did!"

“Did you get up early because you were extra excited to go to school today?” Yosuke teased.

At this, the boy grabbed a pillow and bopped Yosuke on top of his head with a soft thump. “No, dad! Don’t you remember? The schools are off today!”

While Christmas wasn’t an officially recognized holiday in Japan, many schools still closed their doors since the date fell so snugly into many Winter Break windows anyway. While most businesses and eateries were open for just another normal day of business, students like Akira could stay home. If Yosuke and Souji hadn’t saved up vacation days, they would have had to go in as well.

Yosuke gaped in mock surprise at Akira’s answer. Meanwhile, Souji funneled the urge to laugh by cramming his tongue in his cheek and biting.

“Really? I had no idea!” Yosuke told the boy. “Then, what are you doing up so early?”

The fated question lured a sneaky grin to the boy’s face. The boy’s tiny fingers wrapped around one of Souji and Yosuke’s hands to guide them upward. With another jump, he bounced off the bed like a bursting kernel of popcorn.

“Come to the kitchen,” he beckoned.

“Oh?” Souji cooed. “Why?”

Akira shook his head mutely. It seemed he was serious about not spoiling the surprise.

Souji and Yosuke shared secret smiles before following along.

As the trio meandered down the hall and into the kitchen, the couple was greeted with the sight of a festively decorated table in their breakfast nook. The humble table was dressed was a clean blanket serving as a tablecloth. The setting was then topped with confetti and china from their cabinets. A flurry of handmade paper snowflakes twirled gently overhead. It appeared Akira had hung each one with tape and clear fishing line, which was abundant thanks to Souji’s strange tastes in waterside hobbies.

As for breakfast, the young boy thankfully hadn’t attempted to cook anything in the microwave or oven. While he’d received a few cooking lessons from Souji and multiple lessons on knife safety from Yosuke (who never let the boy near anything sharper than a butter knife) Akira was still too young to operate anything that produced heat or fire.

Instead, he’d prepared two plates of whipped cream topped with a combination of chocolate cookie crumbs and miscellaneous candy bits. Each entree was adorned with tiny candy canes, marshmallows and artful drizzles of chocolate syrup. Souji’s plate was adorned with a drawing of their cat Mici, while Yosuke’s was dotted with a stream of cartoonish musical notes.

“Woah, you even made up breakfast all by yourself,” Yosuke fawned before pulling the boy in a tight hug. “Looks like those cooking lessons are paying off! Great job, Aki!”

The young boy glowed with pride at the praise. “Thanks, dad! Mici helped too!”

Mici looked up from the couch at the mention of her name, then immediately went back to sleep. Akira waved off her indifference with his usual gusto. “Don’t worry, I already fed her. Only cat food, though.”

Yosuke and Akira shared a fist bump before they engulfed each other in another hug.

Souji used Akira’s distraction as the perfect opportunity to peek inside the mixing bowl he’d heard clang earlier in the morning. He grabbed the rim and gently tilted it into his vision. One look inside verified Souji’s suspicion that the boy had used it as the container to brew his sprinkling concoction. That was a relief.

No less than a few seconds after thanking Akira for the literally sweet breakfast, the boy’s own grumbling tummy urged Souji to make a beeline to the stove to cook up some pancakes that would pair nicely with his culinary creation.

While Souji added notes of nutmeg and vanilla to a basic batter mix they had in the back of the cabinet, Yosuke joined Akira and Mici over on the couch in the living room to watch television. The condominium’s living room was only a few paces away from the small kitchen thanks to the open floorplan, so it was easy for whoever was cooking to stay engaged with anyone in the living room. The arrangement worked out particularly well when Chie and Yukiko visited and insisted on cooking for their friends. No matter where Souji and Yosuke were assigned to sit, they could always keep an eye on what was literally brewing in the kitchen

As for the living room itself, it was humble in size yet featured floor to ceiling windows that offered a perfect view of the city skyline. On the street below, people paraded down the sidewalks in costumes and winter attire. A spatter of snow fell from the just with just enough ferocity to lightly dust the jagged cityscape with flecks of ivory.

In the corner of the living room, a small but elaborately decorated tree sparkled in the corner. The artificial fir glowed with shifting colors of the rainbow thanks to lights Akira had picked out himself during one of the shopping trips he’d taken with his parents after school.

The idea of decorating a tree in the first place had been his. Both Souji and Yosuke had gone most of their lives without seasonal decorations because of how often their families moved and relocated for work. It wasn’t until Akira came home from his first day of school earlier in December that he told his parents about the large tree that was on display in his teacher’s classroom. The boy’s eyes enlarged and shimmered like boba beads as he talked about the lights and handmade ornaments they’d crafted for the towering decoration. The rest was history. They made a family trip the next day to buy one.

Now, as footage of the Roppongi Hills Christmas Market in O-yane Plaza filled the television screen, the boy became starry-eyed again at the sight of the festively dressed crowds and the lines of stalls selling Germanic baked goods.

“Woah, it looks so pretty!” Akira declared. His chin landed in his hands as his fingers played up and across his cheeks.

Amazement flashed upon his face yet again when the newscaster showed footage from last year’s market, including the nighttime light display. Each roadside tree was strung so carefully with blue lights that it looks as if the entire walkway was coated in a wafer-thin coat of iridescent ice. The display was even more spectacular in person if there was snow on the ground. It was the one time of year that even the busiest corridor in the city could turn into a literal sea of stars.

“Yeah?” Yosuke asked curiously. He pulled up his legs so he could sit cross-legged upon the sofa. “Have you ever been to the market before during the holidays?”

The boy shook his head. “No. Nobody ever took me.”

“You wanna go this year?”

Disbelief made the boy’s cheeks flush. “Wait, could we really?”

“Of course,” Yosuke said as he scratched Mici behind the ears. “It’s not far. The crowds might be a little crazy though. You'd have to stay by us the whole time.”

“Crowds don’t scare me,” Akira announced. Then, as if ashamed by his boldness, he lowered his voice and shifted his gaze about the room. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I mean, I don’t…want to go if you and Papa don’t want to.”

Yosuke cleared his throat and turned his head to yell over the edge of the sofa and project his voice better into the kitchen.

“Hey, how about we all go to the Christmas Market today?” Yosuke asked just loudly enough so his voice rose over the volume of the commercials. It always seemed like advertisements were at least five notches louder in volume than the actual television programs. Or, perhaps he was just getting old.

Souji, who was still standing stove-side but had picked up on the entire conversation, turned toward the duo and nodded. He flipped a pancake with ease before nonchalantly plopping the golden-brown disk onto a plate. “Sounds like fun. You know, they sell the best baking ingredients there. I need to pick up a bag of chestnuts and some fresh cinnamon sticks anyway. I think that’s a great idea.”

Yosuke turned to face Akira again and gave him a wink. “I can’t take credit. It was Aki’s idea.”

Akira let out a gasp of delight and practically scrambled across the pillows to give Yosuke a hug. “Are you sure? That would be so awesome! Thank you, dad!”

The statement prompted a laugh from Yosuke, who returned the embrace briefly before the boy was already sprinting over to Souji to wrap his arms as high as they could reach around his dad’s slightly taller frame and squeeze with all his might. The result was an embrace that entrapped Souji’s legs together.

“Woah there,” Souji chuckled as he finished poring another stream of batter. Sure enough, the mix crackled ferociously in the pan at the sudden addition of heat. “Careful around the stove, Aki.”

After prudently setting the hot skillet on the back burner and turning down the flame, he kneeled and swopped Akira up into a hug. He then gathered the boy in his arms and lifted him onto his hip. For extra security, Akira held tightly to the collar of Souji’s sweatshirt.

“Hey, Papa, can I tell you when to flip them?” he asked as his father returned the skillet to a live flame.

“Sure,” he laughed. “Do you mind? You already cooked for us this morning, after all.”

“I don’t mind!” he said brightly.

“Okay. Just say when.”

Akira leaned down slightly so he could study the man more closely. He looked like a lion observing prey. “Okay…now!”

Reduced to having only one free hand, Souji carefully grabbed the handle and flicked the pan upward with a snap of the wrist. The force sent the cake upward a few inches before it plopped back down into the skillet. Sure enough, the face was perfectly cooked.

“Ah! You did it!” he clapped.

“We make a good team,” Souji nodded. “Want to do another?”

“Yes, please!”

Yosuke watched fondly from the sofa as Mici settled into his lap with a commanding purr. As much as she adorned the family around her, even she was prone to feeling a little jealous.

“Sorry, girl,” Yosuke apologized bashfully. He held out a palm, and Mici quickly plopped her head into the concave of his hand and rubbed lovingly. She was always quick to forgive her dads for anything.

As Yosuke rubbed Mici behind the ears, Souji held Akira close and tight until all the batter had been cooked to pancake perfection. The small family then gathered around the table that Akira had decorated to enjoy their breakfast together.

While Akira busied himself with devouring the pancakes and keeping Mici’s curious paws from swiping through the piles of whipped cream, Souji and Yosuke snuggled close and watched their child fondly. The two looped around about each other’s shoulders so their bodies could slot together cozily. When Yosuke leaned down to roll his head against the plane of his partner’s chest, Souji instinctively turned and placed a kiss atop his crown.

Neither of them could have pictured a more idyllic scene.

Then, the news channel ceased its coverage temporarily to air the weather report.

Notes about the weekly forecast immediately drew the couple’s attention away from their child and onto the climate conditions.

The immediacy of their reaction punctured the tranquility. As both veered their attention toward the television, Akira curiously followed suit. He paused mid-chew to examine the television forecast. When the forecaster only reported sunshine and mild cloud cover, he became even more curious about what had elicited such an urgent reaction from his parents.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Both gave a start at the sound of Akira’s innocent voice. Souji was the first to avert his eyes and offer a comforting but tight-lipped smile. “Um, nothing. Sorry.”

Not surprisingly, Akira wasn’t convinced.

“We just both wanted to make sure it was sunny today, that’s all!” Yosuke added in a rush. “After all, we don’t want there to be any rain today. Right?”

The addition of the last sentence seemed to hit home. Akira nodded his head, but his furrowed expression was the picture of seriousness.

“Actually, since it’s so cold out, rain would freeze into snow!” Akira said, no doubt repeating one of the rudimentary weather lessons he’d learned at school. The explanation was abridged, but not incorrect. Then, the boy paused to ponder a thought. “Rain and snow are both okay, but as long as the ground is warm, it shouldn’t freeze. I hate ice. It’s cold and hard to see on the roads! It makes the school gates and train stations cold too."

The rant drew smiles to Souji and Yosuke’s faces. He was already old enough to start feeling passionate about certain things, and it never ceased to be adorable. They could only imagine how compassionate and vocal he’d be as a teenager.

Thankfully, that was still a long way off.

“You’re absolutely right,” Souji chimed in. “I think we both feel a lot better now. Sorry for worrying you, Aki.”

With the dilemma put to rest, the young boy merely returned to his pancakes and keeping Mici at bay. She was still circling the plates of cream like a jungle cat.

Only when Akira had completely refocused on his breakfast did they dare to let out sighs of relief. Worried glances glided between them.

The boy was still blissfully unaware of the horrors that his parents and their team of companions had experienced way back in high school. While Souji and Yosuke had spent long nights heavily debating the prospect of unveiling their past experiences to Akira once he was at a more appropriate age, it remained a sensitive topic of discussion. Sometimes the memories even found ways to creep back into their everyday lives, like absentmindedly checking the weather five times a day or working in extra arm exercises at the gym so it would be easier to wield melee weapons. Both Souji and Yosuke were equally guilty of buying huge cases of diet soda in bulk, and when Akira asked why his parents needed so many cans and couldn’t just run to the vending machines down the block, neither of them had been able to produce an exact answer. It was just a leftover habit from high school that refused to go away.

Each instance was like catching a warped reflection in a mirror or seeing a stray shadow at night. The memories haunted them like ghosts, barely there and always on the fringe of the sensory threshold. It was like a spec in one’s vision or a nonspecific muscle ache. It was a small annoyance, but it felt impossible to cure with anything except time.

“Jeez. Old habits die hard, huh?” Yosuke husked. His tone almost sounded forlorn at how easily they’d lapsed back into their old routine. Or perhaps he was merely disheartened. Nonetheless, he gave Souji’s hand a little squeeze for comfort.

Souji rolled his hand so he could lace their fingers together. He lifted their joined hands so he could place a princely kiss atop Yosuke’s knuckles.

“That’s true,” Souji calmly acquiesced. “But they’re just habits. Habits can change.”

Yosuke’s body heaved with a sigh. “I know, I know. It’s just a matter of time, huh? That old saying?”

Souji closed his eyes for a moment. _Time_ was such a vague answer for everything it would take to overcome the traumas of their high school years. A small but stubborn part of him knew they’d never forget everything. The lessons they’d learned and the pain they’d felt were experiences that were woven into their being like genetic codes in their DNA. They’d been born anew after those battles with different perspectives on each other and on the world around them. They’d never be the same people they would have been if their innocence hadn’t died after their trip into the television in the Junes technology department year ago.

Yet, as Souji held Yosuke’s warm body in his arms and watched Akira and Mici bump foreheads, he thought that maybe wasn’t such a bad thing.

If all their troubles had brought them together in spite of everything and made their future together possible, then Souji was more than willing to accept and embrace the pain of his past.

One day, perhaps they’d completely bounce back from their experiences and live normal lives. Until then, they had each other’s strength and love to support to help survive the long journey.

They’d all move forward dauntlessly toward a future together.

One tiny step at a time.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a few ending notes before we part ways.
> 
> The name Akira, depending on its kanji, has a variety of meanings. It can read as “sunlight and moonlight”, “wisdom”, or … “truth.” No wonder this family gets along so well!
> 
> Mici is the same cat Souji and Yosuke have in almost all my post-canon fics. It’s a popular Hungarian cat name. My grandfather, who was an oil painter in Budapest, gave every cat he ever owned the same name. Every cat was named Macska (or “cat”). He could have used names like Mici or Nudli to help differentiate, but nah. Macska it was, haha! So, Mici is always an homage to him. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this fic! Fluffy, domestic pieces are some of my favorite ones to write, especially this time of year! Thank you so much for your amazing prompts. It was a joy to be your 2019 Souyo Secret Santa. ;)
> 
> Happy holidays, and cheers to 2020!


End file.
